The Pureblood and The Mudblood
by xominnow
Summary: The war isn't the only thing that's heating up Hogwarts as an unlikely friendship turns into something more.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic so please don't judge too harshly. I hope you enjoy this. I do not own anything Harry Potter; J.K. Rowling does.**

She knew it was late but there was no way she could sleep. With end of year exams coming up along with all of her close mate's drama to listen to, her mind was filled to the brim and ready to explode. Slipping out of her bed, she half-heartedly pulled her robes on over her pajamas and stuffed her feet into her shoes without bothering with socks.

It must have been around one in the morning when Hermione started slinking though the cold castle. Figuring that no one would be around to stop her she started thinking about how she was going to prepare for all of her finals amidst all of the chaos going on around her. The newly risen Dark Lord and his deatheaters were a huge threat to one of her best mates. It may have also concerned the entire world wizarding and muggle alike as well but who cared about all of them anyway. Her worry worsened with every passing day and it reflected in her schoolwork. She had trouble paying attention in class unless it was hands on, she was tired all the time but could never sleep and when she did she was plagued by the worst night terrors imaginable.

Hermione must have been walking in circles for at least a half an hour; her footsteps fell in time with the snores of the magical paintings that hung on the walls.

All of a sudden she heard a shuffling that was very out of place in the otherwise silent castle. Unable to breathe, she slowly moved along the edge of the corridor and peered ever so slightly around the corner. If she couldn't breathe before, she may as well have had a heart attack at the sight before her.

She saw Malfoy sitting in the middle of the next corridor speaking softly with one of the portraits on the wall. He looked so different compared to the Draco everyone normally saw. Sitting there, though she couldn't hear much of what was being whispered, she heard no cusses and no insults growled. She witnessed no hints of disgust on his face. He seemed to be relaxed and having a pleasant conversation with the portrait of a man on horse decorated with armor and a sword. He must not have been able to sleep either. She could see dark rims lining his beautiful gray eyes, and his sleek figure was slumped slightly forward so that his head rested in his hands.

Hermione smiled to herself as she watched this gentle version of a monster rub at his eyes sleepily and start to head back to the Slytherin wing. She turned herself and headed back for bed. For a moment she was able to forget about all the bad things going on. Even as she watched a death eater sit in the hallways she was unable to feel angry or worried; she felt too peaceful. As she slipped into bed, she found herself thinking of what it would be like to speak with the real Draco Malfoy. The one she had seen in the corridor that night, instead of the rude, impatient, hateful deatheater he normally portrayed.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face, if only for a moment.

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Draco said goodnight to the knight he was trading stories with. It was funny to find out how much they had in common. How they had both been pulled under into the darkness of hatred by their parents and hard times.

He stopped when he heard a strange noise coming from behind him and briefly looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see anyone and continued on the path back to his dorm before anyone could notice he went missing. What would his peers say if they found out that he felt that all the fighting was stupid? When blood was spilled, wasn't it all red anyway?


	2. Chapter 2

Draco sat at breakfast the next morning with the usual suspects. He sat joking around with Blaise Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle. They didn't notice that he was barely picking at his food. Everything upset him these days making him not feel hungry. Once his posse started throwing things at one another he had enough. His temper was almost as short as his father's.

"Will you guys stop acting so foolish?!" He screamed. "You make fourth year's look mature! Keep in mind that we are supposed to be the most feared students in attendance at Hogwarts." By this time, his face was tomato red.

_These morons will ruin my reputation and then I will have to explain to my father what a softie I really am_ he thought to himself as he rushed away from the Slytherin table. He left the great hall in favor of a more relaxed potions room, even if he did have to share it with an old and grumpy spy.

He walked up to the door and knocked four times, spacing them out just so. When he heard a muffled "come in" he opened the door just enough so that he could sneak through and slid in shutting the door softly behind him.

"Good morning, Godfather," he offered to the man sitting behind the desk.

Draco often found him like this. Nothing in his hands to read, no music playing, nothing in sight to occupy his time and yet, he always seemed to be so consumed in something.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy. Is there something in particular that I can assist you with or are you just here to waste my time?" he asked not sparing any pleasantries.

"More of my wasting your time I guess," Draco replied

"Do you sleep at all these days? You look like the walking dead only they at least have the courtesy to actually be dead." Professor Snape drawled looking Draco up and down.

By this point in his life, Draco was used to being judged harshly. Everything he did was a test. Most tests he failed. He ignored his Godfather and made his way around the room; inspecting objects he had seen millions of times.

"How do you do it? How do you deal with all of the ignorant assholes in the deatheaters when you are really working for Dumbledore?" Draco had known for some time now that Snape held no interest in helping the Dark Lord, though he played his role as right hand man quite convincingly. He had no idea though, how he had ended up on the Dark Lord's side to begin with.

Snape sighed and Draco rolled his eyes. If anyone thought it was impossible to be impatient with someone's impatience, they were very wrong.

"I have told you time and time again boy, I have my reasons for my actions and they do not concern a child like you" Snape snapped and went back to doing whatever it was he did all the time.

Draco ran a hand through his hair a little too hard and wound up pulling a few strands out. "Maybe if I could find some friends who weren't such ignorant asshats then I wouldn't have to bother you all the time," Draco commented. The frustration in his words was all but visible

"You are going to be late for you first class if you don't stop complaining and get your sorry ass out of here. Then you would really start to raise some red flags with the wrong people. Wouldn't want that now would we?" Snape almost smiled. Though his words were cruel Draco knew he was doing him a favor by watching out and covering up for him.

Draco grimaced at the tired potions teacher.

"Time to go deal with two retards and one insufferable know it all I guess."

Draco may not have agreed with his family or the rest of the deatheaters, but that certainly didn't give him any reason to like Potter and the gang.

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Hermione watched as Draco pushed his was into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. He seemed to be back to his usual rude and crude self. She sighed; she guessed it must have been too good to be true.

Ron had finally worked up the courage to sit next to her in class. She knew he had a crush on her but he certainly didn't act like it. To be honest she didn't know if she wanted him to anymore. She was tired of waiting on him to make the first move. She thought he was handsome through his goofy looks and charming through his clumsiness, however she couldn't take having him pretend to not notice her feelings anymore.

It was time for her to move on and she knew it. She had spoken to Harry about it before and he agreed whole-heartedly. They were taking notes today in class and Hermione couldn't even work up the energy to raise her hands to answer questions she clearly knew all about. All she could think about was what it was going to be like when the war moved into the school and what she could do to protect her friends.

She imagined Draco on the opposite side of them, wand raised, though she couldn't picture him casting any spells against them. Instead she pictured him falling to the ground with the portrait of the knight clutched in his strong hands.

"Miss Granger!"

"Yes Professor," Hermione's head popped up and she mentally cursed herself from getting so lost in her thoughts.

"20 points from Gryffindor. Next time maybe you will stay out of you day dreams and here in the classroom where you belong. I'm sure your fantasies will not be of much use to you once this war is in full swing again," the professor huffed.

"Sorry Professor, it won't happen again," Hermione blushed

At the end of class Harry and Ron ran to catch up with her as she was rushing down the corridor.

"Are you feeling alright Hermione?" Ron asked with genuine concern reaching for her hand.

"I'm fine, I just didn't get enough sleep last night is all," she said

Harry shot her a worried glance that said they would have to have words later. Hermione nodded back at him and started for her next class.

As she turned around she ran right into a platinum haired boy who immediately looked down on her like she was some type of scum bag.

"Watch it mudblood!" he spat and went on his own way. His words shouldn't have hurt her after all of these years, but for some reason today they stung more than they had in a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I noticed that at least a couple people have followed my story and I really appreciate it. If you could leave comments at the end I would truly love to hear your thoughts and I will try to post every day. That being said I hope you enjoy this next stretch. **

Hermione went through the rest of her day, from class to class, in a trance like state as the word mudblood slowly faded from her ears. Though she never could get used to the foul word, Hermione felt that she had built up a tremendous tolerance for all of the insults that were thrown at the people who were not "pure." All she could think about was the dirty word coming out of the boy who sat with the knight.

She couldn't possibly be feeling surprised, she didn't know what she was feeling. She was feeling hurt. But it was Draco Malfoy after all. This is the same jerk she had been dealing with since first year; there was no reason for him to change now.

Dinner finally rolled around, and though she seriously considered skipping. She came to the conclusion that that would be a little overdramatic and decided to go sit with her friends, even if she had no appetite. She sat in between Harry and Ron who carefully avoided all subjects having to do with the day's events. They spoke of the upcoming quidditch match that Harry was to participate in and how Ravenclaw hadn't won a game all season, so it shouldn't be very difficult to defeat them this time.

While Hermione was speaking with the boys, they handed her food which she absentmindedly ate. Hermione could see that they though she didn't notice, but she was too grateful of their efforts to tell them otherwise. She realized that she shouldn't have pushed the only two people who have been by her side the whole time away. While she felt that they could be extremely overbearing at times, they were just doing what they thought was best for her, and she would always do the same.

She couldn't help but glance up at the Slytherin table every once in a while. She secretly hoped that she would be able to catch a glance at the boy she had seen the night before instead of the boy she had run into in the corridor earlier that day. She had never noticed how gentle his features were before. Very masculine, yet the outline of his face was almost graceful. She saw him all the time, but she had never taken the time to really look at him before. She looked down before she could start blushing. _What am I doing?_ She asked herself. This was ridiculous. _This isn't me; I must be going crazy _she concluded in her mind.

When she looked up she realized that she had either missed something really important or the boys were waiting for a response to a question she hadn't heard.

"I'm sorry I must have zoned out for a second," she said in response to the 'deer in headlights' looks that she was receiving.

"We just asked if you were feeling okay. You looked really pale and lost there for a moment," Ron said to her softly as he brushed his hand over hers. This time, she actually let him take it. She squeezed his hand a little to let him know that she was alright.

"I'm just a little stressed, that's all," she said to both of them

"A little stressed? It seems as if you aren't even here with us sometimes," Harry said sounding very concerned.

Hermione smiled. She loved Harry. He was the brother that she had always wished she had when she was in the muggle world. She hadn't gotten picked on often, but when she did no one was even brave enough- or stupid enough- to stand up for her. She admired Harry's bravery, even if sometimes she felt it was foolish of him to act before thinking of what consequences it may bring.

"I'll be okay as soon as final exams are out of the way and we get all of this You-Know-Who business sorted out. And besides, I haven't slept very well these past couple of days. After a good night's shut eye I will be right as rain." She tried to sound as cheerful as possible, but she knew they could tell that it was bothering her more than she was willing to let on.

"Of course," Ron said, clearly trying to appease her, "why don't you get to the dorms early and catch a few extra hours of rest." His face was smiling, but his eyes were filled with something else though Hermione couldn't quite place it.

She didn't try to either. She took the opportunity to get some alone time and said goodnight to her two best mates. She needed some time to think without having to worry about class going on all around her and bumping into people while walking through the hallways. She snuck up to the library which had been closed already for the night and opened the locked door easily using alohomora. She padded softly through the expanse library as to not make enough noise to draw attention to her in the room and put her books down on a large table while she went to find more materials to study for exams.

She felt more at ease roaming the silent library that night than she had felt in weeks. Even though it was after hours and she was technically breaking the rules, it wasn't like she was looking up things in the forbidden section, she was studying. She was hoping that the stillness would help her focus on the task at hand and maybe she could finish early and do some extracurricular reading. The thought made her giddy and she quickened her pace through the eerie aisles of bookshelves to find the proper materials to study with.

After a while of studying and looking up some new spells to try out later, Hermione decided it was time to go back to the dormitory before she could get into any more trouble for the day. As she was packing up her things, she heard the front door shut and gasped. She ran into the corner, careful not to leave any of her personal belongings on the desk and casted a quick disillusionment spell on herself.

She was too scared to even breathe and before long she was cursing herself for risking being in the library this late. She realized she didn't even bother to relock to door after she had entered. _Bloody hell! How could this day have gotten any worse?! I have to be the only person stupid enough to get caught studying in the library after hours._

Hermione continued to stand in the corner, still as a statue, afraid that the other person in the library would hear her. The thought was ridiculous of course. It was a large room but there was almost no echo. The person was also obviously across the room from her anyway. Hermione finally figured that she would rather be paranoid when the time came to fight Voldemort than to grow too comfortable with strange noises. She slid down the wall until she was half sitting half crouching in the corner and waited for the perfect time to make her escape.

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Draco, being the prefect for Slytherin house, was able to roam the corridors at night without too much trouble. Tonight however, he was looking for something particular. Draco was looking for a way to keep the Dark Lord and his father from using magic to get inside his head to see that he was not on their side, not really. He was using them for now. This kept him safe, and it kept him from losing his family for now.

Draco didn't understand what was wrong with him. His whole family was committed to the Dark Lord. They were all purebloods and he was raised to believe that they were superior to all other witches and wizards. So what made him feel so bad about being against everyone else? _Maybe the old man finally got to me _he thought to himself as he started sorting through books looking for spells that he could try. Professor Snape had promised to help him prepare himself for anything that may come his way, including this spell to block his mind from other witches and wizards.

As far as Draco knew, he was the only one besides Dumbledore who knew that Snape was on their side. He thought back to the day that Snape had first told him that he was Dumbledore's spy. He had gone to the potion master's office and sat in the chair across from his godfather's desk. He was tired and stressed with huge bags under his eyes. He was deathly skinny; in fact he looked like he might fall over at any moment. He had never been so scared in his entire life. His father had just explained to him all of the benefits of being on "the winning team." He had also just explained that killing people was the reward. Draco's vocabulary word of the day was genocide.

He looked up at his godfather who just sat there staring at him.

"I'm not sure that I will be able to do it," he remembered saying. It was more like a whisper. He sat praying that his godfather's response would be to motivate him and not to kill him.

"I don't have any faith that you will be able to kill any innocents at all," Snape had replied bluntly.

Draco stared at him dumbfounded.

"So what are you going to do to me?" Draco asked knowing full well that Severus Snape was Voldemort's right hand man.

"I'm going to tell you a secret," he responded his face changing from the hard grimace he often wore to a softer, more parental smile. Draco smiled as he remembered the frown he had worn when the professor had said that.

"You don't have to be the bad guy," he remembered him saying. "Life is full of choices, and I made mine years ago to be a spy for Dumbledore. I can help you if you are willing to be helped," he had said.

From then on Draco trusted him more than anyone else in the world. He did not take any words of advice from his godfather lightly. He did as he was told, and right now his orders were to play nicely with the family and to not get caught thinking any other word than "pure" around those who were persuaded by the other side.

Draco sat down at a table with a stack of books that he started to look through. He was having trouble keeping his focus for some reason. Maybe it was because he hadn't been sleeping well. Maybe it was because of how frustrated he was with himself. Maybe he was just stressed because the war was heating up and he still wasn't prepared to look his family in the eye and betray them.

They had all just gotten word today that deatheaters were being spotted wreaking their havoc; showing everyone that they were back and more powerful than ever. No one was allowed to leave castle grounds for the upcoming holiday. Dumbledore had deemed Hogwarts the safest place for all of the students during Christmas and has invited parents to come visit the students instead. Draco was sure however, that his dear old dad would not be joining him on the holiday.

Draco read through a couple more pages and decided that his attempts to find spells was not going to get him anywhere that night and he may as well try to catch what little time he had left to sleep. He turned to put all of his books away but noticed that someone else had left a lone book on one of the table about four meters from where he was standing.

He put his books back and decided to go over and have a peek at the book; maybe he could find some spells someone else was practicing. Picking it up, he saw the name Granger written neatly at the top of book. He snickered to himself. _It would be the neurotic Granger's now wouldn't? It is just so fitting _he thought to himself. He started leafing through the pages as he unconsciously walked around the table.

Suddenly he felt himself kick something on the ground. When he looked down he didn't seen anything. He took out his wand and discretely cast lumos. He used the lit tip of his wand to take a closer look but still couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

_That's strange_ he thought. _I know I couldn't have kicked the wall I'm not nearly close enough. _

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" He asked the air hoping that there was actually someone there and it hadn't just been his imagination.

"Confundo!" He heard a female voice cry.

The next thing he could clearly remember was a frizzy brunette standing over him looking extremely flustered and blushing slightly. He couldn't quite make out who it was though, the spell still obviously messing with his brain. His first thought was to fight back as he jumped up to his feet and pulled out his wand from inside of his robes.

"Now that's not how we greet people. Where are your manners? You could have at least said hello first," he joked still fuzzy. But now he was angry and he was ready to pick a fight.

**I know there hasn't been much Dramione action yet but I promise that it is coming soon! Please review **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. Sorry I know that I kind of popped up and then disappeared but I had a lot of family issues and then getting ready for school but now I should be updating at least once a week from here on out. **

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I was brilliant enough to write Harry Potter all of that credit must go to the one and only J.K. Rowling.**

_It would be Draco! _Hermione thought to herself. She felt more than a little confused as to why he would be in here after hours but then again he could be asking her the same question. Well right now he could be asking all sorts of questions since he must be all but out of his mind after the Confundo spell she just cast on him.

It had only taken her a second after he walked over to the corner where she was crouching for her to recognize the Slytherin. She wasn't even quite sure why she felt the need to begin what she thought could become an epic duel in the night with him. Maybe it was all of her pent up feelings from earlier when he had called her the M word. Maybe she just wanted to see if she could beat him. She was- after all- in a never ending competition with him, wasn't she?

He started to try and disarm her immediately using expelliarmus, but his aim was still a little off and she was able to easily dodge all of his attempts.

After she had regained some of her wits without really knowing she had lost them in the first place, she quickly disarmed him and walked up to him holding her wand clean to his throat. "Malfoy! What in the world could you be doing in here at nearly two in the morning?!" She hadn't meant to sound loud but due to how silent it had been everything sounded amplified. All of the hexes she had had in her head had fled her mind and instead of going after him like originally planned her wand seemed to lower itself to her side of its own accord.

"Oi Granger, it would be you in the bloody library after hours. Why don't you set up a fucking cot in here? It'd be more comfortable," he said, his voice thick with sarcasm with just a hint of malice. Hermione could clearly tell he was looking to see which direction his wand had been thrown.

Carefully avoiding looking in the general direction of his wand she cleared her throat to let him know she wanted his full attention. She was hoping to distract him in case he was still planning on trying to take her out. When he finally looked at her, she gave a satisfied grin and started talking again.

"I have a dorm with a cot and not that it's any of your business but I have been having issues sleeping and thought that some quick studying could help. It was working too until you decided to ruin the peace," she sneered. _I can't believe that I actually just sneered at Draco Malfoy, King of all Sneers! _She almost laughed out loud at the shock that showed in his face, but instead opted to just look at him disdainfully. She really wished she could just give him a taste of his own medicine for once but she knew that nothing she did could ever make him feel inferior. Not even her marks in class could make him feel like she were anywhere on the social ladder but below him.

She tried to push those thoughts aside as he was clearly thinking of a good enough comeback although for the moment he seemed to be at a loss for words. She ginned even wider at this and now it was his turn to sneer.

"Quit it with all the smugness Granger. You disarmed me while I was blindsided. Hip-hip hooray, maybe your lot will throw you a party or something. I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be courageous and not cowardly," He grumbled though he knew that the Confundo spell was brilliant.

After giving it a moment of thought she decided that she didn't have to feel any shame in defending herself when he couldn't see her. After all he obviously had realized she was there and he had scared the wits out of her first.

"'Anything is fair in love and war'," Hermione quoted not sure whether or not he would get the reference.

"How truly cliché," he commented still looking for his wand. He laughed at her when he looked up at her face.

"Don't tell me that a Malfoy has read Muggle literature," She said trying to mask how completely dumbfounded she felt after realizing he had heard the saying before.

She heard him cackle a moment while watching him bend down to pick up the wand that he had finally spotted which had rolled a few meters behind him underneath of another table. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, but right when she was about to say that he was good looking she decided to categorize the feeling as fear instead of admitting that she may or may not find Malfoy attractive.

"Oh right because I am a pureblood means I have to be completely daft when it comes to all things Muggle. How very narrow minded of you Granger. In order to deem ones' society useless one must first have at least some basic knowledge as to why it's useless. I think so anyway," He checked his wand for damage and then brushed invisible dirt from his robes.

Hermione blushed and hoped that he didn't notice. She hadn't thought about it that way. She just assumed that, by this point, they would need no proof the Muggles were low lives. She had started to make her way over to her things to leave when she felt a hand at her arm. She felt terrified at the things that he could do to her. Never the less, she put on her bravest face and looked up to meet his gray eyes.

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He had grabbed her arm with all intention to try and intimidate her but when she looked up at him he lost all train of thought. She had no idea what he had been planning to do to her, but still she had a determined look in her eye like she was ready to fight. Draco didn't want to admit it to himself, but he really admired that about her. Every time he made fun of her, every time he tried to mentally bring her down, she always stood up as tall as she could and fought back.

No matter what he did, the longer he looked into those eyes the more he thought about all of the times he could have considered himself to be a coward. He couldn't even stand up to his own father. _Bloody_ _bullocks! _He cursed himself internally sure that one day a stunt like this would make everyone realize that he didn't stand up for the same "morals" as the rest of the purebloods. He tried once more to come up with a way to make her cringe but came up blank over and over again. He just shook his head and let go of her arm.

He saw her look at him with disbelief, but he ignored her and just walked out of the library without bothering to grab any of his personal belongings. If they questioned him about it tomorrow he would just have to say he left them there yesterday by accident and insist they overlooked them in their final checks at the end of the night. He could get away with it. Snape would back him up, just like he always has.

He walked around the corner cursing himself. He should have fought harder, but when he looked at her he was at a loss for words. _When the bloody hell did Granger become so admirable? _He stopped himself dead in his tracks. _I didn't just think that. There is no way I can have any sort of civil feeling towards that bushy haired know-it-all. _Draco shook himself and started down the corridor once more.

On his way down to his common room he kept of trying to diagnose himself. After all he must be feeling ill. He may be on the good side of the war, but he certainly didn't want to become all buddy buddy with Granger. No it was way too much fun to bicker with her. _Fun to bicker with her?! _ _Time to see Madame Pomfrey for sure!_ He thought to himself and resolved to go see her in the morning.

All night he tossed and turned unable to get Granger's determined look out of his mind.

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When Hermione slipped under the covers that evening she thanked Merlin and all of her lucky stars that Draco didn't try anything. He could have easily hexed or worse. She would have been defenseless, he must have known that. The only thing she could think of was that he was waiting until he could blindside her just as she had him. She didn't sleep that night. It was like there were menacing shadows of Malfoy looming in every corner of her dorm.

**A/N Okay so I know I am a bit out of practice but please review! The truth may hurt but I would rather make corrections than write an awful story :/ Are Draco's true feelings for Hermione starting to show? We'll find out soon enough ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again everyone. So I am really bad at consistant updates however, I will NOT abandon this story. I WILL see it through to the end and I'm hoping that you guys will too. This is a longer chapter then I posted before so I hope that it flows alright. As always I encourage reviews and PMs with constructive criticism. **

**-Le Minnow**

**Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns these amazing characters **

A week passed without incident. Hermione didn't see Draco except in class. She was careful to stay in her dorm at night and when she did roam the castle, even to and from classes, she was sure to have a friend with her. She wasn't quite sure what it was she was waiting for him to do.

Maybe he will sneak up behind me and paralyze me, she pondered one night. He could always slip me a potions in the Great Hall while I'm eating my food and I would be none the wiser until something awful happened she thought another day. She just couldn't keep her mind off of it.

The only upside to her overwhelming paranoia was that her marks shot up from the already outstanding average. She spent most of her time locked away during the library in the day. She found herself doodling those crazy gray eyes on her parchment when she zoned out only to scribble them away when she came back to reality. She couldn't understand why she had so suddenly become obsessed with a boy who tormented her. She tried to convince herself that she was only upset at the fact that he had been there in the library that night and she was worried he was plotting something mischievous to get her back, but that wasn't entirely true.

She found herself trying to picture him exactly as he was and when she did, she didn't find this cruel looking foe who planned on killing everyone who wasn't pure. She saw this lonely little kid with empty eyes. She found herself wanting to know more.

Finally on Saturday, Harry and Ron convinced her to go with them to Hogsmeade. She had decided she wasn't going but found herself persuaded when they jumped her in the common room and pinned her to one of the couches until she agreed that she may just need some time away from the castle.

She shook her head as she got ready for a quick bath before they headed out. While the other girls got ready for hours earlier Hermione had sat in bed thinking about the long soak she would have after everyone else had gone but now she was going to have to jump in and jump out. At that moment the sneer on her face could have rivaled Snape's. _Boys ruining my plans to sit around and read she thought to herself. _She sighed as she sank down into the bubbles though because she knew they were right. Staying here wouldn't result in reading and a long soak; staying here would result in looking under pillows for things that may or may not jump out at her and checking her drink for poisons.

As quick as she went into the girls bathroom it seemed she was out and not quite ready to face Hogsmeade although her friends were bouncing on the balls of their feet. She couldn't help but laugh at her two closest friends.

"You two look like a couple of first years on their first trip bouncing like that," she snickered and slid out of the way just in time to dodge a tackle from Ron.

"We are just so happy that you are finally going to rejoin life," Ron jabbed and Harry elbowed him lightly.

"Yeah Mione, it feels as though we haven't seen you in ages when we see you every day," Harry smiled sadly.

Hermione felt her heart ache a little for her friends. She knew that she had been hurting them by ignoring them and decided that probably wasn't the best way to overcome her paranoia anyway seeing as no matter what she and Draco occupied the same living space whether she stayed in her dorm hiding under the covers or walked the grounds with Harry and Ron as usual. She looked at each of their faces again and put on the brightest smile she could muster.

"Well then, maybe the first thing we should do is go and get ourselves a couple of butter beers and catch up," she said brightly. Ron smiled and even though Harry's face still looked worried his eyes brightened a little bit. He was under a lot of stress without her Malfoy problems but they needed to know about her encounter with him in the library.

"Come on then, I told Ginny that we were going to meet her there anyway," And with that Harry turned around to make his way out of the common room while Ron glared at the back of his head.

"Do you know what's going on between those two?" He asked her and she just smiled and shook her head.

"No idea," she called behind her as she started to follow Harry.

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Draco was very careful wandering around the corridors after the library incident desperate to hide from Granger. Much to his dismay hiding from his thoughts proved to be a lot harder. He kept thinking strange things like accidently planning to run into her while he was in Snape's class- which may explain why Snape keeps asking if he's with someone. He roams the halls at night with his eyes peeled to catch a glimpse of the girl he is convinced he is trying to avoid and when he returns to the Slytherin common area feels his stomach drop because he hasn't' seen her.

He hasn't seen her all week.

Draco watched himself in the mirror as he does his hair in the same meticulous manner he does every day. Everyone is bustling around him getting ready for the trip and he scowls as someone bumps him and his hair falls out of place again. As he raises his hand to put the stray hair back into place he hears someone run up behind him and braces himself to be pushed again his wand gaining weight in his robes as he prepared to hex whoever messed with him.

"Hey pretty boy, are you quite ready?" Draco lets out a sigh when he hears Zabini's voice knowing that he would never try to ruin his routine. He values his life more than his sense of humor.

"Well if these prats would learn how to walk I wouldn't have to do my hair more than once now would I?" Draco's asked rhetoric question laced with venom instead of the sarcasm he was aiming for. _Why the hell am I so angry? _he asked himself as he saw his best mate take two steps back.

"Listen bro, it's getting late I just wanted to warn you that everyone is going to be leaving soon," he said putting his hands up in mock self-defense. Blaise stood behind him while he hurried to make his hair look right. He knew his friend, being from the pureblood family he was from, understood the importance of self-presentation and was grateful when he didn't badger him to just let it go. Soon enough the stubborn hair found its place and Draco stormed out of the common room without saying a word to Blaise who was right behind him as always.

When they got outside Draco and Blaise went to stand over with some of the other older Slytherin students a mass of curly hair caught his eye. He could feel his face getting warm and hoped that his pale complexion didn't betray him. She was smiling with her friends, he could see, but she kept looking around like she was scared the boogey man was going to jump out and steal her. Draco smirked to himself. It was funny how capable she thought he was at being able to catch her off guard. Not that he wanted to, because that would mean not pushing the thoughts of her from his mind, and that's all he wanted to do.

The students made their way down the long path that led to Hogsmeade and everything felt so normal. Everything felt like it had for years. The Slytherins judged the students from other houses around them and snickered. The Hufflepuffs were glad to enjoy the beautiful day around them; flowers were passed around. The Gryffindors dared each other to do stupid things and not get caught doing them and they were all too proud to refuse and bravely accepted every challenge. And as for the Ravenclaws, they had discussions on their school work even away from the castle, some of them recreationally identifying different species that could be found along the path and what they would be used for in potions and such.

Draco knew on the walk that Hermione had seen him as she kept looking back at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He could also tell that the weasel and potter were moving stiffly and deduced that she hadn't told them why she was so paranoid. This confused him. Why wouldn't she let them know? Is this why they hadn't tried to come after him after he and Hermione dueled in the library last week? A Gryffindor and a muggle born; he would never understand the way their brains worked.

"So what are our plans for today? I blew up another one of Snape's cauldrons and he is dead set on having me replace it this time," Blaise said trying his best to get his best mate's attention.

"Today we are going to follow Golden Potter and his little minions and have some fun. I don't plan on shopping for new cauldrons though, that's all you mate," Draco smiled as he said the latter. He knew his godfather was fed up with all the people in his year who still couldn't manage to brew simple potions without blowing things up. Although Snape didn't outright tell him that it was Zabini he had had his suspicions.

"Well then I guess Snape is just going to have to wait. I wouldn't want to miss any of the fun," Zabini said with a glint in his eye.

Draco decided he would have to stop him if he went too far with Granger, he didn't want to see her get hurt. _It's only because Slytherin doesn't need to lose any more points _Draco told himself and decided that the lie was sufficient enough. Did he believe his own lie? Of course not. But the others in his house would and that was all that mattered. At this point he just really wanted to see her reaction.

They followed the trio to the Three Broomsticks and Draco snorted. How typical. Draco motioned for Blaise to stay outside which earned him a grimace but he stayed. Draco knew that he had to be alone to do this and was hoping the Blaise would get the hint and go get the cauldron for Snape. He was enough of a pain in Snape's arse while trying to do what was expected of him let alone when he was blatantly disregarding an order.

He found where the three had taken up residence at a table also containing the girl Weasly. _Great _he thought. This was going to be hard enough with dumb and arrogant sitting there but the girl he knew was firey as well. After he downed a butter beer of his own and watched as a second round was being delivered to the table of misfit Gryphindors he decided that it was time to act. His hands twitched a little and he could feel that his palms were getting a little clammy. His plan, such that it was, was far from perfect but he wanted to go along with this. So he stood up slowly and stretched his long lean body before swaggering over to the table across the bar.

With ease he stuck out his right elbow while walking past the table just enough to make the glass fall to the floor and shatter. He could hear Madam Rosmerta curse somewhere behind him and suppressed a laugh as he looked down at the Golden Trio with their plus one with a haughty look on his face. He was sure what they were reading was disdain which suited the situation perfectly and he began to speak.

"Whoops. Seems as though we've had a little accident Granger," he smirked and cut her off as she began to protest. "I will be more than willing to replace that if you would be willing to come up to the bar with me for a little chat," he said as he looked down at his nails and back up to her face.

"She doesn't want to go anywhere with you Malfoy. We can pay for our own drinks thank you very much," Ron screamed and Draco rolled his eyes. Always over-dramatic that one.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked without taking his eyes off of Hermione.

"Yes, we are Malfoy," Harry piped up and Draco looked over acknowledging him, "We don't want any more trouble today so if you would kindly leave we will fix the mess that you've made."

"Proud bloody Gryffindors can't even accept a drink when its offered, but if you insist," Draco bowed and started to walk away making sure he was a good meter across the floor before he started grumbling to himself about how miserably his plan failed without either female even piping up when he heard foot steps behind him. He turned around and was taken aback to see none other than Hermione Granger standing behind him and he felt his heart pick up speed. He was barely aware of the ginger girl trailing not too far behind her. He continued on until he got to the counter in the bar with a very red faced Rosmerta looking at him and Hermione without saying a word pulled up next to him with Ginny.

"I'm sorry about the trouble Madam Rosmerta, it really was an accident that I am willing to pay for in full," Draco said kindly though he knew that he wasn't fooling anyone.

"You better believe that you are paying for that Mr. Malfoy and if you break one more thing in this establishment out of spite you will be out of here for good," Rosmerta said coldly.

"I understand. If I could get three more butter beers please," he said and flashed her a smile.

Rosmerta rolled her eyes but was loathe to turn down business so obliged and three butter beers appeared in front of Draco. He slid two over to the girls and took a long sip from the remaining glass. He looked at Hermione purposely and waited for her to say something. He saw that she was studying her butter beer which annoyed Draco immensely.

"There is nothing in it. I don't pay people off to do my dirty work," Draco drawled hoping that Hermione would hear the sarcasm in his voice but half hoping that the youngest Weasley would miss it.

Hermione nodded as she took a sip before she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why didn't you tell your friends about our little run-in in the library?" he countered.

"I didn't see the point although I was going to tell them today. I can't live thinking that you are going to poison or hex me every time I turn around," she admitted.

"It's funny, I wasn't roaming the corridors because I thought that I may be blind-sided again. And I thought that you Gryffindors were brave but instead I get a bloody cunning one, go figure," he smirked at her downing the remains of his butter beer. If he was drinking he couldn't be distracted by her big chocolate brown eyes.

"Was that a compliment Malfoy?" she asked slyly.

"More of a grievance than anything else really," he replied. _Shit I need to be careful around her_ he thought, focusing on a point behind her head. 

"Oh, well if that's all you have to say for yourself," Hermione started but Draco cut her off.

"Actually I would like to make a truce. I will tell you right now that you no longer have to watch your back any more than normal if you can promise me that I will be able to roam the castle's corridors without being fearful for my life," he proposed a little nervous. He had never waved a white flag before so to speak. She didn't respond for a couple of minutes and he could swear he heard a non-existent clock tick somewhere in the distance.

"A truce? And what on Earth would make me believe that you would stick to your end of the deal ferret?" She said clearly trying to sound brave but it just came out awkwardly loud.

Draco thought for a moment. Why should she believe him? Why did his stomach drop when she called him a ferret and did she feel the same way when he called her a mudblood? He mentally shook his head and returned to the present with Hermione and her friend, who had been unusually quiet, standing with their hands on their hips waiting rather impatiently for a response.

"I guess you don't have to believe me but it would make both of our lives easier if you did," he said truthfully.

"And if you do anything to hurt her mentally or physically by catching her off guard I will personally Avada you and if you think that I can't then maybe you should send one of your little minions to test the waters," the Weasley said finally piping up.

"Good, I'll send Crabbe first then," he joked and she scowled at him.

"Fine," she said and bounced away presumably to tell the others of what occurred. Draco looked expectantly at Hermione.

"So they wouldn't let the Gryffindor princess go on her own would they? Do they have a royal guard to follow you around now or something?" Draco jabbed and her face which had been impassive turned angry.

"Why do you roam the castle at night and talk to the portraits?" Hermione blurted

"How did you know that?" Draco asked. Now he was really nervous.

"I saw you one night when I couldn't sleep. I went for a walk and I saw you. Why?" she grilled insistently.

"That's none of your business. Just make sure you don't hex me the next time you eavesdrop on me in corridors," he said quickly and ran out of the door to find Blaise.

Would there be a next time? Did he want there to be a next time? Yes. The answer was plain and simple. The question was how did he do this without anyone knowing? She obviously sought companionship in her books after her so called friends went to sleep as he did with his portraits. Maybe if he could get her to ease up a little they could become friends and he would have another person who knew that he wasn't on the wrong side of this bloody war and he wouldn't have to feel so much like an outsider on his own team.

As they headed back to Hogwarts, Draco prepared for a long and hard conversation, and possible a row, with his Godfather.

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Hermione didn't tell the boys about the duel in the library and made sure to swear Ginny to secrecy about it. She didn't know what he was up to but she was going to find out. He seemed pretty twitchy when she mentioned the portraits but why? She felt her cheeks warm as she remembered how civil he had been. His grey eyes put butterflies in her stomach. He was more like a puzzle now as opposed to the monster she had thought he was in the past and she was determined to put it together, she just needed to find the rest of the pieces.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry again for the long wait in between chapters, I know that this is really bad form but life is unpredictable especially in college and with aging grandparents. I hope you will all forgive me. I did notice that I picked up a few flowers with the last chapter and I am thrilled that you decided to join us on this journey! As always comments and PMs are always appreciated and encouraged! I can't get better unless you tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy this new installment. **

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is still the queen of Harry Potter and I hope to one day be half as great as she. **

"But that still doesn't explain why you bought her a drink! We are in the middle of a war Draco and you going all bleeding heart on the Granger girl isn't going to help you at all!" Snape screamed clearly distressed.

Draco had told him about the run in at the bar with a few minor details changed. Like the fact that he had followed her there. Or the fact that he could still hear her voice in his head. Draco had known that it wouldn't be a smart move; no one could know that he had switched sides. Not the Golden Trio, not Dumbledore, and especially not his parents. Draco slouched in the chair he was sitting in and groaned. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"I know, I know, it was stupid but she knew, she knew that I had been roaming the castle and I have no idea how much she already knows," Draco thought about that for a moment and felt even worse than before. How much did she know? "Don't I get Slytherin points for being sly and hinting at a rendezvous to see how much she actually knows about the whole situation?" Now he was just grasping at straws trying to redeem himself.

After he had gotten back to Hogwarts he made up a million and a half excuses as to why he needed to get out of the common room. Not that all the Slytherins didn't know that Snape was his godfather, because they did, but he didn't just randomly up and go to see him. Their meetings were scheduled and predictable. He was hoping that they wouldn't think too much of this visit after he told them that it was getting close to his father's birthday and he just needed to discuss sending a gift to him.

"No! Quite in fact, you get negative points for trying to be nonchalant because she clearly thinks that something is going on. What if she tells St. Potter?! What if he decides to trail after her on one of her late night adventures, hm? Did you think of that?" Snape fell back into his chair and pulled a hand over his face and then both back through his hair. "Now that you have gotten yourself into this magnificent mess, how, pray tell, do you plan on fixing it?"

"What if I just stay in my common room for a few nights? Try to avoid her for a little while and pop back out when she suspects that I have given up my walks," Draco suggested but he knew as soon as it came out of his mouth what was wrong with that plan.

"Wrong. If you are not seen wandering about the castle like a child-which is against school rules and I should be taking away points left and right for your confession- then you are already straining the weak truce you have established. She is expecting you to wander and if you don't she may be even more suspicious than she was before," He explained. "Try again," He offered.

"I go and I act completely normal. I call her some filthy names if she looks my way and go about my business." Draco sighed. He already knew that wasn't going to happen. What he really needed to do was make sure Granger could keep her mouth shut when it came to his secret. Without that the whole war could go out the window. His future would go out the window.

"Very good. Everything must stay status quo. I cannot stress enough how important it is that the Dark Lord continues to believe that you are on his side. Not to mention that if Lucius were to find out the Dark Lord may not be your biggest concern, he is not young and neither is your mother but that does not mean that they would not try and have another heir if you were to disappoint them like that. I, being the best chance of winning the war on the light side, would not be able to save your sorry hide in that case." Snape was leaning over Draco now, their noses all but touching. Draco resisted the urge to sink down as far as he could into his seat knowing that would only get him another speech on how demeanor was everything and how much trouble that could get him in outside of these walls. Thankfully Snape stood up straight, albeit slowly, but it made Draco feel better to have a little personal space.

"Thank you Professor for you time," Draco said slowly with an aristocratic air, feeling more like himself with the familiar tone that came from his mouth. Snape seemed pleased with such a pureblood response and dismissed his Godson shaking his head a little when Draco was turned though Draco could almost hear the movement at this point.

Draco walked to the dining hall having all but missed dinner. He glided over to his friends and sat at his usual spot at the Slytherin table. He filled his plate and started picking at it automatically while he tried to brush off his classmate's questions about his impromptu meeting. No, he wasn't in trouble. Yes, it was really just about his father. No, he didn't want to share details.

"So is it true what happened at the Three Broomsticks?" Crabbe asked unabashedly.

Draco cringed internally. He knew it was coming but he still wasn't prepared for that question. He tried to come up with something smooth to say but came up empty. _Merlin, why can't these imbiciles mind their own business? _He thought to himself but he knew it was his own fault and that he would have to pay the price.

"That depends on what you heard," Draco drawled lazily though on the inside his heart was pounding against his ribcage. This makeshift interrogation could make or break him and he could feel the pressure, all but tangible in the air around him.

"Well I heard," Goyle began, "that you were trying to woo Granger by buying her a drink and then you two disappeared for an hour before you were found on the opposite side of Hogsmeade."

Draco rolled his eyes and most of the sixth years around him laughed at the thought.

"That would obviously never happen," one of the girls a couple of seats away snickered.

"Any other people ready to share some absurd lore about Granger and I?" Draco challenged and it was Blaise who answered.

"Well from where I was standing it seemed like you were trying to get under her skin but then felt bad about it but, knowing that you don't have a heart to speak of makes that about as plausible as the last hypothesis. Maybe you could explain what actually happened instead of trying to make story tellers out of all of us," Blaise's joke lifted Draco's spirit a little and he thought that he may be able to salvage the situation. Thank Merlin his best friend thought he knew him.

"And what if I don't feel like sharing my **private **life with you peasants?" Draco retorted and smirked. This was the Draco everyone expected to see. This was the show that he would continue to put on. And that's all it had been for months now. A show. He was brash about everything all day and avoided questions and then at night he would go to Snape's quarters and read muggle literature or go around and speak with the portraits.

"Well then I guess we will all just have to believe that you have a crush on Granger and that will be the end of it," Blaise smiled at him with a saccharine smile and Draco barked out a sarcastic laugh.

"If you all must know I was trying to see just how naïve Granger really is. The best way to get to Potter and the Weasel is through the girl, so why not see how far I can get her to stray and watch the others squirm," he lied. He knew it was weak and not well thought out but he hadn't exactly had time to come up with an elaborate story. Besides, he was a Malfoy, no one would dare question him.

Everyone laughed though the people who were involved with the Death Eaters sounded a little uneasy. No doubt they thought that he was feeling Granger out to take her or pass word along to people who planned to kidnap her. He hadn't thought about it that way before but it served his purpose from all angles. No, no one knew he was a Death Eater for sure, but it was well known that his father and aunt were.

After that it was all the usual shenanigans that Draco could no longer stand. He had seen way too much, especially very recently, to laugh so easily and so he gracefully got up and wandered out of the Great Hall. No one looked at him sideways, he was fairly certain no one even knew that he was gone.

He slipped into his bed and covered his face with his arm. This was not his life. He was not sure whose it was but he pitied them, it was a mess.

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"Can we go over this one more time?" Harry asked still a little thrown off by Malfoy's actions.

Hermione took a deep soothing breath beside him. She didn't want to explain everything to all of them. She was a little ticked off that they knew anything at all because it was more of a nuisance for them to know because now they would have an even closer eye on her than they did before.

"Listen Harry I already told you, I'm not sure what happened. He bought me a drink after he deliberately dropped mine on the ground. I don't even know where to begin to decipher that. It could all just be some cruel joke, we all know he is rather sadistic." She sighed leaning back in one of the wing back chairs in the common room.

"I bet you he is trying to feel us out, to see if we are weak, or to see if we would be willing to give him some information to pass back to Voldemort," Harry mused still whole heartedly believing that he was now not only a Death Eater but a member of their inner circle.

Ron rolled his eyes at the mention of Draco's supposed alliance and turned to face Harry full on. "We've been through this mate. He may have taken the mark, I'll give you that much, but he is too much of a coward to actually put any of what those loonies plan into action. He is like one of those dog toys that look really menacing on the outside but when you throw them they squeak," Ron argued.

"Ron, where did you learn about dog toys like that?" Hermione asked knowing that those were a muggle item and that, short of going to visit a muggle who owns both a dog and one of those types of toys, a wizard would be hard pressed to have ever gotten his hands on one.

"Dad brought one back one day. Fred and George are actually thinking of using the idea to make a new Umbridge doll for the shop," Ron chuckled a little and both Hermione and Harry joined him. The twins would come up with something like that from a dog toy. Hermione found it especially amusing when she pictured wizard children playing with what started out as a muggle dog toy playing fetch with one another and was soon laughing so hard she was fighting back a snort.

After they had all calmed down somewhat Hermione decided that it was time to put in her two cents, so to speak. She wanted to be careful not to say too much though or else they would be following her around at night which, at present, was the only peace she got.

"Well, whether or not he is a Death Eater, because I am still not entirely convinced that he is one," she deliberately over enunciated the latter, "I really don't see anything sinister about him buying me that drink. Maybe he just had a brain lapse and tomorrow he will go right on with his slurs and other nonsense," she proposed not hinting in the slightest that she or he wandered the castle at night or that he might not be as dangerous as they all think he is.

In the back of her mind, she told herself that it was because she really didn't have enough information to make that call. But was that true? Or was it that she didn't want to believe that he could be cruel after what she saw? Whatever it was, it would be solved sooner rather than later as she planned on "running into him" sometime later that week. She felt like a first year with a crush the way she was planning out her meeting with him, but that was just silly. And the whole waiting a few nights was starting to bother her as well. What if he thinks that I'm planning on bringing the boys along after the first night of not running into him; feels like I'm trying to trap him?

The biggest question that had been eating away at her lately though was, did he expect to run into her again?

Of course he did. He said no more eavesdropping on his conversations. But did he really want to run into her again? That one was kind of iffy but she decided that the answer to that question was a yes as well. He wouldn't have made that big of a show in the middle of a public place with a "mudblood" if he didn't want to see her again.

She pretended to listen to the boys argue for a while seeing as the topic had switched over to quidditch as it always did. They were arguing animatedly about who was the most important player on the field and even though Harry knew better than to ask Hermione her opinion Ron, being as thick headed as ever turned to ask her, which she took as her cue to get up and go into the girl's dorm to study for a little while.

She let her eyes float over the words in her potions textbook without really absorbing anything as scenarios from the upcoming meeting ate away at her. She knew that she should be more concerned about potions seeing as Harry was beating her in that class but she couldn't find it in her to concentrate on anything. It all looked like it was in a foreign language to her and she had to put the book aside. For a moment she wondered how it was that Harry was so suddenly good in potions then decided that should the situation get out of hand she would ask him. He hadn't tried to start giving her pointers yet and therefore could just be cheating off of someone else in order to give her some space.

After a while other girls started to appear in the dorm and get ready for bed. Hermione never really found it in herself to join in on some of their nightly rituals, such as doing each other's hair and painting nails before bed, but often she would go and gossip with them about people in other houses just to keep up on everything going on inside Hogwarts. She hated feeling out of the loop. Tonight the topic just so happened to be her she noticed as everyone carefully avoided her bed and were speaking in hushed tones like that wouldn't alert her to the fact that she was the topic of conversation.

She pulled her curtains closed feigning having gone to bed early in order to plan out exactly what was going to go on later that night. Her biggest problem was going to be actually finding Malfoy in the first place without it seemingly like she was looking for him. She laughed at herself. Of course he was going to know that she was looking for him. He was crude but he wasn't daft and he was a Slytherin to boot. This was, without a doubt, going to be a long interesting night.

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As soon as he could hear Blaise start to snore in the adjacent bed Draco pulled himself out from underneath the deep green covers and threw on his school robes. He saw no need to put them in their usual immaculate state to simply wander around the castle. The only person he was counting on seeing was Granger and she wouldn't notice one way or the other, he was sure of it.

He went into the common room and looked around for a moment before stepping through the portrait into the cold dungeon corridor to find the stairs that led up to the main part of the castle. Since it was the middle of the night and none of the wall sconces were lit Draco was forced to cast a lumos charm to light his way through the maze of corridors without tripping over his own feet. Some of the portraits groaned as he walked past clearly trying to sleep but he didn't care. He was like a man on a mission.

For as much as he told himself beforehand that he wasn't going to actively seek out the Gryffindor princess he had known that he wouldn't be able to stop roaming until he found her. Luckily for him, not too far into his searching, he heard faint shuffles coming from the opposite direction and he ducked behind some curtains hanging up against the wall. He peeked out around the side and slouched against the wall when he saw that it was just a couple of prefects doing their nightly round. He sighed softly, a little upset with himself for leaving the common room so early in the night. He waited until he heard the footsteps walk past him not too concerned that they would look down and see his feet peeking out from underneath the curtain and then hastily continued in the direction he was headed in opposite the prefects. The last thing he needed was for Snape to be brought out of his chambers to retrieve him in the middle of the night while trying to find the bushy haired know-it-all. It would be worse than a nightmare.

Finally after what seemed like ages, Draco came upon the library. He looked at the grandiose door and chuckled a little to himself. _If she doesn't wind up here eventually herself I'll tell my father that I am a blood traitor _Draco thought comically. He made a few more laps around the corridor by the library and then decided that he could at least sit in the library and read while he waited for her to show up. _It would be just like her to keep me waiting now that we both aren't skirting around the topic of having seen each other wandering after dark _he snorted and then started to panic.

What if she isn't going to show up after our little run-in at the pub? Certainly she knew that he wanted to meet her, he made it perfectly clear. Or then again, maybe he didn't. He slouched in the chair he had taken up and shut the book that he wasn't reading anyway. She wasn't going to come. How could he have been so foolish? He felt a pang of disappointment run its course through his entire body and he drug his hand through his already messy blonde hair. This was a disaster.

"You know, it really isn't nice to stereotype people Malfoy," he heard a high pithed half whisper through the dark and jumped up out of his seat. Why did he feel excited? He should still be disgusted, this was Granger we were talking about here. But maybe he would finally be able to figure out how much she knows not that he wasn't curious about more than a few things himself.

With the most impassive face he could muster, Draco stood up slowly until he was towering over Hermione's slight figure looking down on her and said, "I'm sure I haven't the slightest idea what you are referring to."

"Waiting for me here in the library, how original," she said looking him over and he felt the corners of his mouth twitch. He was so tired of all of the Slytherin girls hanging off of his every word that this little spat of theirs was sure to be refreshing.

"Well where else would you look for a bookworm?" he inquired and watched as she squirmed, clearly not having a good comeback. He smirked at her coolly but not cruelly.

"So you did want to speak with me," she threw back clearly grasping at straws now, though he did note that she said speak to and not see.

"Very astute of you Granger, I had hoped you would catch on to that."

"Well then let's get on with it," she crossed her arms over her chest and Draco had to pull his eyes back to her face. He gestured to a chair, indicating that this conversation was going to be longer than she had originally planned and she flopped down unceremoniously across from where he was sitting.

Draco thought carefully about what he was going to say as he adjusted his robes, sat back down in his chair, and carefully crossed his legs.

"Why did you a huge spectacle out of us while we were in the pub?" Hermione asked clearly tired of waiting for Draco to start the conversation.

Draco let out an exasperated sigh. "I was trying to get your attention and clearly succeeded. I noticed that you had stopped roving the halls at night, presumably because of me, and needed to speak to you about our last encounter. The manner in which I asked was a little over the top I'll admit, however I am a Malfoy."

"Well now that you have my attention what do you want? To make fun of me in private? To make my life a living hell for seeing that you are in fact a real boy?" Draco could see Granger's face beginning to turn pink and decided it was time to get to the heart of this matter before it turned into a battle.

"No, quite in fact, I wanted to ask you to keep our little secret just that. A secret." He said hoping that if he spoke calmly she would respond in kind.

"Why do you wander the castle after curfew?" She asked looking genuinely curious.

"That is none of your business," Draco ground out and then added, "probably for the same reason you do."

"How would you know why I walk the castle?" She asked, and he noted she sounded a little uneasy at the prospect of being dissected by a Malfoy.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist Granger," Draco said as he sniggered, "I can't say why you roam the castle aimlessly that's why I said probably."

He watched he straighten herself in the seat so she was no longer slouching. "The state of my knickers is not your business. But I will tell you that your family is part of the reason I roam the castle at night. I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since the incident at the ministry at the end of last term," She huffed and then looked away like she couldn't believe that she had just admitted that to him.

To be honest he couldn't believe that she had admitted it either. He had no intentions of having a heart to heart with her in the library tonight, but he did feel a little pull at his heart. He knew that his father and his father's minions had caused a lot of grief to the Golden Trio in particular, but he had never given it much thought until now. He coughed uneasily and stood up.

"Well then, it seems we do indeed have a lot more in common than either of us would care to admit I'm sure. However this must stay between us. I won't hang your dirty laundry in public if you don't hang mine." He said gruffly ready to go back to his dorm for the night and think things over.

"That sounds way too fair a deal to be coming from a Slytherin's mouth," she said but there was no malice behind her words and Draco swallowed a lump in his throat as he prepared for the question he knew was coming next. "Are you really…?" She trailed off but the words still hung in the air around them.

"Come now, we don't go spilling all of our secrets in one night, its bad form." Draco hoped it was cryptic enough that she wouldn't be able to figure out that he did indeed have the mark. That could create way more problems than it was worth and he had no intentions of telling her that he was a blood traitor. That could lose the war.

"So there will be more nights?" Granger asked quietly.

"Until we learn how to sleep again, there will be nights." Draco said and walked out of the library.

As soon as he was outside he smiled to himself finally feeling like he had won an acquaintance at the least, someone who would understand in time. This was going to be one rough year, but at least he wouldn't be forced to talk to only the paintings for the rest of his time here. He allowed himself to smile as he made his way back down to the dungeon, and if he wasn't mistaken, he had seen a smile on Granger's lips as well.


End file.
